TSMC posts strong outlook

LONDON – Foundry chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Hsinchu, Taiwan) said that strong demand from mobile-related sectors would continue in the second quarter and drive sales up by about 17 percent sequentially.

The forecast was given alongside TSMC's financial results for 1Q13. At the same time TSMC said that to prepare for a fast ramp of 20-nm production starting in 2014 it has raised its estimate of 2013 capital expenditure to between $9.5 billion and $10 billion. TSMC's capex for 2013 had previously been set at about $9 billion with Samsung and Intel expected to spend $12 billion and $13 billion respectively.

TSMC made a net income of NT$39.58 billion (about $1.32 billion) on consolidated revenue of NT$132.76 billion (about $4.44 billion) in the first quarter of 2013. Year-over-year, first quarter revenue increased 25.7 percent while net income increased 18.2 percent. Compared to fourth quarter of 2012, first quarter of 2013 results represent a 1.0 percent increase in revenue, and a 4.9 percent decrease in net income.

TSMC said that shipments of wafers made using 28-nm process technology reached 24 percent of total wafer revenues in the quarter. The 40/45-nm process node accounted for 23 percent.

TSMC said that 2Q13 revenue is expected to between NT$154 billion and NT$156 billion with a mid-point of NT$155 billion (about $5.2 billion) about 17 percent up on the first quarter.